Feel free to get specific or general. Just want to hear peoples' initial thoughts and then we can all discuss further as the thread grows as well! — The Questioning Bookworm
This the tough one. My own view of flogging is that it would be updated, highly structured, and ultimately remedial and rehabilitative. In other words, no just beating the s*** out of a person and then turning them loose.what the better solution might be, — Hanover
Fyodor Dostoevsky once said: "The degree of a civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." — The Questioning Bookworm
drug-related crimes — The Questioning Bookworm
non-violent robberies — The Questioning Bookworm
Sure, until some kid gets too high (I mean REALLY high and overlooks a traffic light or sign and ends up making a seemingly minor yet incredibly consequential driving or operating error resulting in injury to property or persons. Or even, quite literally smokes his whole life away. Wasted potential. Or someone takes a little too much coke and has a heart attack -- or thinks he is lol. Ambulances are expensive. Or takes too many mushrooms or LSD and thinks the lady next to him is a shape-shifting creature and punches her in the mouth. Or screams and runs, disturbing the peace at least. — Outlander
So just because a person isn't shot to death it's "non-violent" -- no the trauma can last a lifetime. Total withdrawal from society, PTSD, flashbacks, etc.
People can receive trauma from all sorts of things not even related to crime. Should we meet the potential trauma of a non-violent robbery victim by throwing the guilty into a cage for many years and potentially giving this person trauma? Still don't see how this is okay. — Outlander
I think virtually everyone can agree with prison reform in theory, it's when it gets brought down to the practical level of actually providing more funding or putting prison guards through "bullshit" training that can result in some pushback. — BitconnectCarlos
It's a difficult issue because prison guards aren't the cream of the crop. After you've had piss thrown at you or been attacked several times, your attitude changes. There are some genuinely terrible and mentally ill people in prison so sometimes when these idealists from outside come in with their grand solutions I get a little skeptical. I do believe in providing the basics though, but I would imagine bringing in increased funding would be an uphill battle in local communities. — BitconnectCarlos
I've felt that for lots of crimes that an option of flogging should be in play. Short, brutal, humiliating, punishing, and done. All the details of which to be worked out and in part dependent on the crime. It's a guess on my part, but I think many criminals would prefer it to years in a cage, and that likely flogging, done right, would be more likely to prevent further crimes. — tim wood
It seems to me a sentence for a crime should attempt to satisfy four main requirements (and likely a host of smaller administrative requirements). To the degree reasonably possible, 1) The victim should be satisfied, 2) the community should be satisfied, 3) the perp. should be "satisfied," and 4) prospective criminals should be "satisfied." "Satisfied" meaning somewhat different things in each case.
Part of the problem is that the crime usually involves costs that the criminal can in no way in his person repay. - In that sense, perhaps also the victim needs a program of rehabilitation. - A word suggests itself as comprehending the whole problem: "reconciliation." Balancing the books. And depending on the mess, sometimes a grueling process - nothing touchy-feely about it at all. — tim wood
but I think many criminals would prefer it — tim wood
You can't "restitute" that today seeing as all they'd be good for is physical labor and you have machines that can do the work of 50 men at 2 cents an hour for current without any chance of hostility/subversion/laziness/purposely not working. — Outlander
Which is 'worse' for the prisoner? — The Questioning Bookworm
just retribution — Pfhorrest
discouragement of egregious (if not just blatant) behavior that is destructive to others — Outlander
Or maybe Russia would rent us a couple of gulags in Siberia. — Bitter Crank
You're suggestion that the ease of fixing something with modern technology means restitution is infeasible suggests that you think that such restitution "isn't punishment enough". — Pfhorrest
It's a fact.I have heard claims that the United States has some of the most incarcerated persons relative to other countries in the world. Is this just a statistical blunder or fact - with considering populations of other countries relative to prison populations? Why is this so? — The Questioning Bookworm
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